The Mormon Manuscript Series

Ed Decker

A Short and concise History of

The Mormon Church

From its inception to the Present Day

And a clear demonstration of its

Forward

Biblical heresies

This was really Keith Greens Idea

It was a number of years ago, in the early spring of 1982 that I

received a call from the late Keith Green, awesome musician, zealot
Christian and founder of Last Days Ministries. Keith had recently
written a monumental piece of apologetics, The Catholic Chronicles. He
called me to see if we could put together a similar piece of work for
Mormonism.
I had been on a ministry trip though Southern Utah and while speaking
at a church in Moab, Utah, I met a pastor who was also a good friend of
Keiths. He contacted Keith and told him about my ministry and that
brought about the call and an agreement that we would work on this
project together over the next six months or so.
Unfortunately. On July 28, 1982, 28-year-old Keith was in a small plane
crash that took the lives of Keith and two of his children. It was such a

tragedy. His wife, Melody was six weeks pregnant and at home that
day with their one year old daughter.
Things like this put everything in perspective. There was no going
forward on our project and some while later; the Catholic Chronicles
were pulled from the Last Days Ministry materials. However, works
such as these have lives of their own and they are still available today.
We have them on our own website as do hundreds of other ministries.
By the fall of 1982, I felt it extremely important to finish the project as
Keith and I had laid it out. The Mormon Manuscripts are the result of
that work. A few parts of the original work, such as in the section on
the LDS Temple have been updated from that earlier release, because
of the major changes the LDS Church has made to the once perfect
and unchangeable rituals.
A new section, Chapter Five, is a new addition to the Series. I have
included it because it goes to the very heart of the true lostness of the
Mormon people.
The word, lostness, is not in the dictionary, but in the souls of every
Mormon on the planet. They follow a false prophet to a false glory,
seeking godhood for themselves through their works of obedience to
the laws and ordinances of the Mormon gospel.
Their only hope of salvation comes through the church and not the gift
of Christ on the cross of Calvary. Please visit www.saintsalive.com and
scan through and use the thousands of pages of materials and the
scores of iPod teachings. All free, all given in the hopes that it will
enable you to reach your Mormon friends and loved ones for Jesus.

The Birth of Heresy

By Ed Decker
The early nineteenth century was a time of great religious excitement
in the Northeastern United States. New York State was rocked with
spiritual renewal from every direction. While mighty men of God such
as Charles Finney, sparked by the power of the Holy Spirit, led so many
thousands of people to the Cross of Calvary there also arose those who
captivated the few with the fruits of their own vanity and drew them
away into the doctrines of a different gospel.
One such man was Joseph Smith, born into a struggling rural farm
family in 1805. The Smith family was given to dabbling in the
mysteries of divination, glasslooking, peepstoning, and Abrac. His
father, Joseph Sr., had a special gift of visions, through powers from the
unseen world.
Joseph Jr. was to set his own mark in the world in a series of bold and
visionary declarations. He was to claim that in the spring of 1820, he
retired to a grove of trees near his home in Manchester, New York.
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There he sought the Word of the Lord concerning which church he

should join of all those experiencing revival. He later testified that God
the Father and Jesus Christ appeared before him in a pillar of light,
above the brightness of the sun.
He said that they instructed him that he was to join none of the
churches for they were all wrong; all their creeds were an abomination
in Gods sight and those who professed these creeds were all corrupt.
According to Josephs declarations, the true gospel of Jesus Christ was
lost to the world. The power and authority of God was taken from the
earth in the First Century AD, and only now was it about to be
restored.1
In the evening of September 23, 1823 (Joseph reported later), while in
an act of prayer and supplication, seeking divine direction regarding
the next step in Gods plan for his life, God moved again.
Another being, who identified himself as the Angel Moroni, descended
in a brilliant pillar of light and repeatedly instructed Joseph in the next
steps of the restoration of the true gospel through Josephs holy calling
to that purpose.
Moroni told him of a stone chest he had buried in the nearby Hill
Cumorah, in the beginning of the fifth century. It held a book of
scripture written upon gold plates, containing the fullness of the
everlasting gospel, as delivered by the Savior to the ancient
inhabitants of the American continent, who were actually the
descendants of Jewish settlers led there from Jerusalem by God 600
years before Christ. The chest also contained the Urim, Thummim, and
Breastplate of Jewish antiquity for the purpose of translation.

Led to the site by Moroni, Joseph was instructed not to remove the
items until given permission. He visited the location annually for four
years, until told the time was ready for these scriptures to be
translated.

And so came forth the Book of Mormon, which Joseph Smith translated
from Reformed Egyptian characters, inscribed on the gold plates.2

Joseph later described the return of John the Baptist, who descended in
a cloud of light on May 15th, 1829, and ordained Joseph and his scribe,
Oliver Cowdery, to the Levitical Priesthood of Aaron, and gave them
the authority to baptize. A short time later Peter, James and John were
to descend and confer the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood, which would
hold the keys to all the spiritual power of Christ. Other visitors, such as
Moses, Elias and Elijah would later appear with their special messages
and keys of Restoration.
With revelation and prophecy abounding, Joseph began the building of
his church. Moving often, and seeking Zion, the true gathering place of
the Lamb, the era of Joseph Smith was at its peak in Nauvoo, Illinois.

With over 20,000 members, the Church had become a force to be

reckoned with! It had political power and influence, as well as its own
small army of 2500 well-armed men under the charge of General
Smith, who now often wore the uniform of that position.
Always fearful of attack from without, the final chapter of Josephs life
came through the conspiracy of traitors and wicked men. On the
27th of June, 1844, Joseph Smith died a martyr at the hands of a mob
in the jail at Carthage, Illinois, thus sealing his testimony of the Book of
Mormon with his own blood, as church history relates.3
While the church split in several directions at his death, the main body
of the resolute believers trekked to a Rocky Mountain retreat the New
Zion named it Deseret. It is now known as Utah. Through hard work
and a special brand of zeal, they carved an empire out of the desert
under the powerful direction of Brigham Young.
Today, Mormonism claims to be one of the fastest growing religions in
the United States and many countries. It fields many thousands of fulltime proselytizing missionaries. Its Corporation of the First Presidency
is one of the very wealthiest business corporations in the country.
The Prophet and the Apostles control these vast business interests
totally without disclosure to the members.
If Mormonism were truly a Christian work, drawing people to the Cross
of Calvary, we could only cheer at the sidelines! But the doctrines of
Mormonism are not the doctrines of the Christian faith.
Lets examine this brief history of Mormonism in the light of Christian
scripture. In II Corinthians 13:1, we are warned that in the mouth of
two or three witnesses shall every word be established, and we will put
Mormonism to that test!
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In the 11th chapter of II Corinthians, Paul warns us that if men come

and preach another gospel, another Jesus, another spirit, we might well
bear with them, for such are false Apostlesdeceitful workers, having
the appearance of ministers of righteousness, but whose end shall be
according to their works (not Christs mercy). We are warned that
Satan himself is transformed as an Angel of Light.
If Joseph Smith really did see what he claimed, two personages
appeared to him in a pillar of light. They claimed to be God the Father
and Jesus, His son.
The very first clue that something was wrong was a physical man in
the role of God the Father. We are told, God is not a man that he
should lie; neither the Son of Man that he should repent (Numbers
23:19). John 4:24 says that,
God is spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and
in truth. Jesus specifically taught that a spirit does not have flesh and
bones (Luke 24:39).
In Matthew 16:17, Jesus declares that His father in heaven is not of
flesh and blood. John 1:18 states that no man has seen God at ANY
time.
The first words out of the mouth of Josephs Jesus should bring loud
clanging warning bells to the Christian with even the most limited
knowledge of the Bible. He declared that the creeds of all the churches
were an abomination to himthat all those who professed those creeds
were corrupt. The Christian pastors were deceivers. There was no
authority of God left on earth!
What was the Christian confession in that day? The same as it was at
the time of Christ! The same as it is today! The same zeal for souls
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seen in the life of Paul is the same zeal we read about in the life of
Charles Finney; in Joseph Smiths dayand it is the very same zeal we
see in the Christian body this very hour! That is the zeal these two
personages claimed was filthy in their eyes.
Can we believe that the power of God, as it was established by Christ
and carried forth by his Apostles and followers was lost to mankind?
Did the world become void of the authority of God? Did Jesus fail?
Isaiah 9:7 claims that there will be no end to the increase of Christs
government and peace. His Kingdom shall be established from
henceforth even forever! Why?
The zeal of the Lord of Hosts will perform it! We are promised that He
(Christ) shall reign forever, and of His Kingdom there shall be no end
(Luke 1:33). Jesus, being the Petra the bedrock itself, proclaimed that
upon that rock (Petra) He would build His church and the gates of hell
shall not prevail against it! (Matthew 16:18).
One need only skim through Foxes Book of the Martyrs and read
some of the many testimonies of the Christian martyrs throughout the
centuries to know without a doubt that the zeal of the Lord of Hosts is
still performing the establishing of His Kingdom!
And what about the Holy Spirit? Was He so less a power of God that He
could not fulfill His divine function? Jesus said He would abide with us
forever, to dwell with us and in us! (John 14:16-17).
He promised that the Holy Spirit would teach us, being a testimony of
Christ, bringing all things of Jesus into our remembrance (John 14:26).
To receive the message of Joseph Smiths first vision would be to call
God a liar, Jesus a failure, the Holy Spirit without function and the Bible
of no merit or truth!
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The next episode in the Mormon Restoration centers around the Angel
Moroni, preparing Joseph Smith to succeed where Jesus failed. Moroni,
appearing as an angel of light, brings Joseph word of the gold plates
and the Book of Mormon, which were to contain the fullness of the
everlasting gospel.
Paul gave clear warning about anyone, even an angel from heaven,
preaching any other gospel. He said that they should be accursed
(Galatians 1:8). Here again, the warning flag waves frantically!
The Book of Mormon claims to contain the sacred writings of the Jewish
people who relocated from Jerusalem to the western shores of the
Americas in 600 B.C.
The first warning sign is that this scripture was written in Egyptian, a
cursed language to the Jews. There has never been a verse of Hebrew
Scripture written by Jews for Jews in Egyptian. It would be
blasphemous! Nehemiah makes that clear. He cursed those who had
traffic with Egypt, smote them and yanked out the hair of the offenders
(Neh. 13:23-27).
Secondly, the Book of Mormon speaks of a great civilization, with 38
major cities and Temples as great as Solomons built from 600 BC to
400 AD. Yet there is not so much as a stone tablet, or a stick that the
Mormon archaeologists can identify as Book of Mormon archaeology.
This is in spite of thousands of discoveries of other cultures in the
supposed Book of Mormon locations.
Even the Hill Cumorah, where Joseph unearthed the plates, was said to
have been host to a great battle in 385 AD, where approximately a half
million people died with all manner of weapons of war. The site would
have to hold a mountain of archaeological evidence, yet not a single

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piece of evidence has been produced in proof of the greatest battle in

this hemisphere in the history of mankind.
Josephs later claim that John the Baptist descended and restored the
Levitical priesthood of Aaron, can only lead one to believe that he had
little or no knowledge of the Bible or Jewish tradition.
First, John the Baptist never held the Levitical priesthood, and could not
restore something he never had, even in Mormon theology. John wore
the skins of an animal and ate food that was considered unclean to the
Levitical priesthood. He functioned by proclaiming Jesus Christ, calling
people to repent and be baptized. The priesthood functioned within the
temple at the altar.
If he were a member of the priesthood, its leaders knew nothing of it.
When challenged by Christ regarding this very subject, they were
ignorant of Johns authority (Matthew 21:23-27). Further, the Mormon
priesthood that Joseph Smith claimed was a restoration does not deal
with the key functions of the early Aaronic priesthood, the offering of
gifts according to the law (Hebrews 8:4).
Jesus has given us a better Covenant, established upon better
promises and has made the old to vanish away (Hebrews 8:6, 7, 13).

Joseph Smith claimed that Peter, James and John came and restored
the Melchizedek priesthood. This declaration, like each before it,
cannot meet the test of Scripture, or logic.
In Mormonism, no man can hold the Melchizedek priesthood without
first holding the Aaronic priesthood. Those great Apostles of the Lord
most obviously were not operating as Levitical priests. Everything they

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did within the record of the Word of God places them totally outside
that dead priesthood.
The true Melchizedek priesthood was always a priesthood of only ONE!
It existed before the law was given (Genesis 14:18) and after the law
was ended (Hebrews 7:11-17).
It sprang forth with the first offering of the Bread and Wine. It
reappeared only when the final offering of the broken body of Christ
and His shed blood ended the penalty of the law as He became our sin
offering by the sacrifice of Himself (Hebrews 9:12-14).
The final irony of Joseph Smiths life came in the story of his death. The
Mormon Church pronounces him a martyr, sealing the testimony of the
Book of Mormon with his blood. Yet truth, and Mormon history, tells
another story. By 1844, Joseph already claimed 27 Celestial wives, by
Church count, and 48 by Historian Fawn Brodies count.4 Always on
the lookout for more, he finally provoked leading men within the
Church to take action.
Austin Cowles, first Counselor to the Church at Nauvoo, and William
Law, Smiths second Counselor, published charges (of heresy, adultery
and fornication) against Joseph Smith in the Nauvoo Expositor.5 Joseph
destroyed the press, and charges were filed against him in Carthage,
Illinois, the nearest community having non-Mormon officials. At first,
Joseph fled and hid, but was convinced to return at his wifes pleading,
by Porter Rockwell, his bodyguard, and was arrested.
Joseph was in the second floor of the jail, with visiting friends and
without a locked door. After members of his own militia retired to their
homes for the night, a mob formed outside, shouting insults. As some
of the mob came up the narrow stairwell, Joseph discharged his pistol

12

into their midst, killing two men and wounding a third. He and his
brother, Hyrum, were killed in the exchange of gunfire.6
Under no circumstance can Joseph Smith be described as a martyr,
sealing his testimony of the Book of Mormon with blood. He died in a
gunfight, in a tragic ending caused by his own carnal, sinful use of
other mens wives. Stephen was a martyr. He knelt down as he was
killed, crying Father, forgive them! (Acts 7:60).
Who are men to follow? Jesus Christ, the Alpha and Omega, who said
Before Abraham was, I AM (John 8:58), or Joseph Smith, the man
who said, I have more to boast of than any man hadneither Paul,
John, Peter nor Jesus ever did it. I boast that no man ever did such a
work as I.7 By every test of a prophet, Joseph failed. By every test of
man, he was corrupt. Yet over six million people follow his teachings in
Spiritual Blindness.
It is only by the power in the spiritual authority of the believer, by your
knowledge of the Word of God, by love for a lost people and by prayer
that you are going to win Mormons to the Lord of Calvary. But they can
be reconciled to God and we have Gods Word on it! (Colossians 1:2122).
References
1. LDS Scriptures, Pearl of Great Price, Joseph Smith 2:14-20
2. Ibid, Joseph Smith 2:30-35
3. LDS Scripture, Doctrine_&_Covenants, Section 135
4. No Man Knows My History, The Life of Joseph Smith, Fawn M. Brodie,
Alfred Knopf Publishers, 1971 page 457.
5. Nauvoo Expositor, June 7, 1844

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6. LDS, History of the Church, Vol. 6, pages 616-619.

7. Ibid, Vol. 6, page 408.

14

THE LAW OF ETERNAL PROGRESSION

By Ed Decker

Mormonism teaches that:

"as man is, God once was, and as God is,
man may become"

Upon this axiom is based the entire theology of Mormonism. From the
Temple rituals for the living to those for their dead, from the teaching
that Families are forever to the pressure on parents to send their youth
to the mission fields across the world, the Mormon people are
committed to a controlled program that maps out their entire lives as
they seek their own exaltation and godhood. Let's look at this mystery
religion in simple terms.

15

In the movie, The God Makers, there is a animated segment that lays
out the basic points of the Law of Eternal Progression in simple terms.
I place it here as a great starting point toward understanding this
heresy.
Mormonism teaches that trillions of planets scattered throughout the
cosmos are ruled by countless gods who once were human like us.
They say, that long ago, on one of these planets, to an unidentified god
and one of his goddess wives, a spirit child named Elohim was
conceived. This spirit child was later born to human parents who gave
him a physical body.
Through obedience to Mormon teaching, death and resurrection, he
proved himself worthy and was elevated to godhood as his father
before him.
Mormons believe that Elohim is their Heavenly Father and that he lives
with his many wives on a planet near a mysterious star called Kolob.
Here the god of Mormonism and his wives, through endless Celestial
sex, produced billions of spirit children
To decide their destiny, the head of the Mormon gods called a great
heavenly council meeting. Both of Elohim's eldest sons were there,
Lucifer and his brother Jesus.
A plan was presented to build planet earth where the spirit children
would be sent to take on mortal bodies and learn good from evil.
Lucifer stood and made his bid for becoming savior of this new world.
Wanting the glory for himself, he planned to force everyone to become
gods.
Opposing the idea, the Mormon Jesus suggested giving man his
freedom of choice as on other planets. The vote that followed approved

16

the proposal of the Mormon Jesus who would become savior of the
planet earth.
Enraged, Lucifer cunningly convinced one-third of the spirits destined
for earth to fight with him and revolt. Thus, Lucifer became the devil
and his followers the demons. Sent to this world in spirit form, they
would forever be denied bodies of flesh and bone.

Those who remained neutral in the battle were cursed to be born with
black skin. This is the Mormon explanation for the negro race. The
spirits that fought most valiantly against Lucifer would be born into
Mormon families on planet earth.
These would be the lighter skinned people, or white and delightsome,
as the Book of Mormon described them.
Early Mormon prophets taught that Elohim and one of his goddess
wives came to the earth as Adam and Eve to start the human race.
Thousands of years later, Elohim in human form once again journeyed
to earth from the star base Kolob, this time to have physical relations
with the Virgin Mary in order to provide Jesus with a physical body.
Mormon Apostle Orson Hyde taught that after Jesus Christ grew to
manhood, he took at least three wives, Mary, Martha and Mary
Magdalene. Through these wives, the Mormon Jesus, supposedly
fathered a number of children before he was crucified. Mormon
founder, Joseph Smith, is supposedly one of his descendants.
According to the Book of Mormon, after his resurrection, Jesus came to
the Americas to preach to the Indians who the Mormons believe are
really Israelites. Thus, the Jesus of Mormonism established his church
in the Americas as he had in Palestine.

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By the year 421 A.D., the dark skinned Israelites, known as the
Lamanites, had destroyed all of the white skinned Nephites in a
number of great battles. The Nephites' records were supposedly
written on golden plates buried in the Hill Cummorah by Moroni, the
last living Nephite.
1400 years later, a young treasure seeker named Joseph Smith, who
was known for his tall tales, claimed to have uncovered the same gold
plates near his home in upstate New York. He is honored by Mormons
as a prophet because he claimed to have had visions from the spirit
world in which he was commanded to organize the Mormon Church
because all Christian creeds were an abomination. It was Joseph Smith
who originated most of these peculiar doctrines that millions today
believe to be true.
By maintaining a rigid code of financial and moral requirements, and
through performing secret temple rituals for themselves and the dead,
the Latter-day Saints hope to prove their worthiness and thus become
gods. The Mormons teach that everyone must stand at the final
judgment before Joseph Smith, the Mormon Jesus, and Elohim.
Those Mormons who are sealed in the eternal marriage ceremony in
LDS temples expect to become polygamous gods or their goddess
wives in the Celestial Kingdom, rule over other planets and spawn new
families throughout eternity.
The Mormons thank God for Joseph Smith, who claimed that he had
done more for us than any other man, including Jesus Christ. The
Mormons claim that he died as a martyr, shed his blood for us, so that
we, too, may become Gods. (end)
Shocking, incomprehensible? Maybe to you and to me, but this is the
core of Mormon theology and it binds its believers away from the real

18

Jesus, the real gospel and the real spirit of truth as surely as though
they were locked away in chains of metal.

19

THE MASSIVE MORMON SCRIPTURE MESS

By Ed Decker

Trying to sort out the massive complexities of the Mormon scriptures is

somewhat akin to the frustration one might feel trying to rewind a
pickup load of tangled fishing line. Every time you feel like you have
made some headway, another mess pops up.
It would be easy to cut the line and clear up little sections at a time,
but thats the basic problem! The Mormons have never really had to
confront their scriptures as a full set of integrated documents that can
be measured by simple scriptural test procedures. The average
Mormon only sees church scripture in the logical context of classroom
references within the rigid teaching structure of the LDS instruction
manuals.
The Mormon is taught to unequivocally accept the LDS scriptures as
the pure word of God, without error or inconsistency. The Bible, the
only real standard by which any doctrine can be tested, is then
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discredited, cutting the LDS scriptures loose from any biblical

accountability. The only acceptable measurement for LDS scripture is
the LDS scripture itself and that has already been given the fullest
approval of an infallible present-day prophet.
There is no margin for the application of generally accepted
scholarship.
In the LDS Articles of Faith, the eighth article states, We believe the
Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also
believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.(1)
Mormonism teaches that there are several problems with the Bible.
First, many of its books are missing, so it is only an incomplete
compilation at best. Second, we are told that many plain and precious
things were taken away from the Bible by that great and abominable
church, as recorded in I Nephi 13:25- 28 in the Book of Mormon. The
very document requiring biblical testing discredits its only credible
witness!
The final severance from biblical accountability is the continued LDS
teaching that what was left of the scriptures has been so often and
badly translated that our present Bible is of almost no stand alone
value.
Apostle Orson Pratt summed up the LDS position when he stated, . .
.and who, in his right mind, could for one moment, suppose the Bible in
its present form to be a perfect guide? Who knows that even one verse
of the whole Bible has escaped pollution, so as to convey the same
sense now that it did in the original?(2)
Joseph Smith taught, I believe the Bible as it read when it came from
the pen of the original writers. Ignorant translators, careless
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transcribers, or designing and corrupt priests have committed many

errors.(3)
What we end up with is a set of spiritual laws that force the LDS people
to judge their scripture by their own measure of faith and not by any
outside influence. Even if there is an obvious contradiction with the
LDS scripture and what is being taught by the present prophet, the
Mormon cannot judge or test the prophet by the scripture.
According to LDS General Authority and President of the Council of The
Twelve, Ezra Taft Benson, the LDS doctrine is that the living prophet is
above scripture. There is absolutely no way out.
The finality of the Mormon theology is not based upon evaluation by
scriptural evidence, but based entirely upon a burning in the bosom.
Again, LDS Scripture demands this final proof of itself and tells you this
is what you must seek.
In a word of admonition to Oliver Cowdery during the translation of the
Book of Mormon, the Mormon god, through Joseph Smith, declared,
But behold, I say unto you that you must study it out in your own
mind; then you must ask me if it is right, and if it is right I will cause
that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore you shall feel that it is
right. But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall
have a stupor of thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which
is wrong.(4
When the Mormon missionaries come into a home, they will talk about
the prophet, Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon and will instruct the
investigator to read the Book of Mormon and to pray about it. They will
encourage the reader to seek that divine burning in the bosom that will

22

prove that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God and the Book of Mormon is
really scripture.
Moroni 10:4 will be quoted, And when you have received these things,
I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the eternal father, in the
name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye ask with a sincere
heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth
of it unto you by the power of the Holy Ghost.
Not withstanding the fact that the sentence structure has the response
triggered as an answer that these things are NOT true, the
missionary use of the quote is to put the burden of proof on the
investigators sincere heart and real intent.
The investigator will feel good about it. It all becomes a subjective
evaluation. The scripture and prophet are not to be tested. The
doctrines are not to be tested. They are to be prayed about and this
divine burning in the bosom will be the proof that they are delivering
divine truth to you from God.
I can vividly remember lying on my bed for the better part of a whole
night crying out to God for a burning in my bosom so that I would know
the church was true. Hour after hour I lay there, with my breast lifted
upward, as though it were on an altar of sacrifice, pleading for the
evidence of this eternal truth. I knew that my heart was sincere, and
yet the guilt of my not experiencing the manifestation was almost
more than I could bear.
Finally, many hours into my vigil, that burning came. I felt an actual,
physical burning sensation in my breast. I would later testify that it was
as though I had a rise of 7 or 8 degrees. My chest was at a high fever
temperature. I rejoiced in the certainty of my faith. Yet, I never checked

23

one teaching of the missionaries against the Holy Bible to see if it

matched up.
It is kind of interesting that when, as a born again believer, my wife,
Carol, prayed the prayer of Moroni 10:4 as she read the Book of
Mormon, seeking to know of its truth, she would fall asleep and
experience that stupor Oliver Cowdery was told would be the evidence
of untruth. Perhaps she was praying to the wrong God. When I prayed
it, not being born-again, I prayed as instructed by the missionaries. I
received one answer and she a totally different one. Yet, we were both
sincere. What was the difference?
It is also interesting to note that the LDS Church published its own
edition of the King James Bible. An article, Church Publishes First LDS
Edition Of The Bible, by Lavina F. Anderson, appeared in the October
1979 edition of the Ensign magazine and described the enormous
project and the intense commitment of the project workers to crossreference this edition to the other standard works of the church.
Aside from the very obvious question of why the prophet did not add
back all the plain and precious parts and correct the translation errors
plaguing the Bible all these years, one comment regarding the project
almost flew off the page like a fiery arrow imbedding itself into the
center of my burned-out bosom.
In the last paragraph of the article, the writer concluded, Brother
Rasmussen added, Sometimes Brother Patch and I would be
discussing a matter of linguistics, and, as we concluded, one of us
would remark, That feels good. I suppose to some people this might
seem like a slipshod way to be scholars, but we could tell when we
were moving in the proper direction and we could certainly identify the
stupor that came over us when we werent. He paused, then added

24

quietly, In some ways, scholarship was the least important part of our
work.(5)
One area of this study clarified a long debated topic among the various
subgroupings within the various branches of Josephite or Restorationist
churches. It dealt with the authenticity of a manuscript called the
Inspired Version of the Bible, written by Joseph Smith prior to his death.
The copyrighted property of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints [RLDS], was never given full credentials by the Utah
branchuntil its release of the L.D.S. edition of the King James Bible.
It is quite significant that this new edition firmly places the inspired
Version in the position of a Standard Work. The title page classifies the
edition as Authorized King James Version With Explanatory Notes And
Cross References to the Standard Works Of the Church Of Jesus Christ
Of Latter-day Saints. In the Explanation Concerning Footnotes, on
page vi, it identifies JST as the code for the Joseph Smith Translation,
which is referenced throughout the LDS Edition, in clarification of some
of the errors in the King James Edition.
During the Question and Answer time following a showing of the film,
THE GOD MAKERS, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, I was making the
point that all this extra-biblical scripture was out of order with Gods
Word. Among the several references I gave was the scripture in
Revelations 22:18-19. It clearly stated, I said, that anyone who would
add to the Bible or subtract from it in any way was in deep trouble with
God.
A Mormon woman in the group challenged me on this statement and
emphatically declared that this was only in reference to the Book of
Revelation in its single context and had no bearing upon any other
book of scripture, including any latter-day scripture. I asked her if these

25

curses would be in effect if anyone had dared to alter just the Book of
Revelation in any way. She replied that this was obviously so.
I then showed her that in the Joseph Smith Translation: he had added
to, or subtracted from the Book of Revelation over 85 times. (6) Even
in the smallest context of the warning, Joseph Smith stands
condemned as a false prophet, I declared. She stared in shock. Later,
an LDS leader came up to me after the meeting and quietly whispered,
It doesnt matter; he was just adjusting the incorrect parts. I know
that he is a true prophet!
Setting aside all the Mormon claims of divine illumination for the
moment, lets seriously consider the Book of Mormon on its own
merit. The major question isnt how to begin such an evaluation, but
where. In one of several forms of an undated LDS tract, entitled, The
Challenge The Book of Mormon Makes To The World, the last
paragraph caught my eye.
It states, The first thing to do in examining any ancient text is to
consider it in the light of the origin and background that is claimed for
it. If it fits into that background, there is no need to look any farther
since historical forgery is virtually impossible. While that is not
necessarily true, we can use it as a fair statement of the LDS position
with regard to the Book of Mormon.
Page One
Starting with the very first page of the Book of Mormon, in the First
Book of Nephi, we read the account of Lehi, the key prophet of the
second migration. It is through this man that the actual Book of
Mormon story comes forth. In I Nephi 1:4, we are told, For it came to
pass in the commencement of the first year of the reign of Zedekiah,

26

King of Judah, (my father, Lehi, having dwelt at Jerusalem in all his
days); and in that same year there came many prophets, prophesying
unto the people that they must repent, or the great city Jerusalem
must be destroyed.
Throughout the rest of Chapters One and Two, we see that Lehi is a
mighty prophet of the Lord, and after much danger leaves the city of
Jerusalem at the Lords bidding.
Taking the clue that we are dealing with the reign of Zedekiah, we are
able to go to II Kings 24:17, 18 and see that Zedekiah reigned for 11
years, starting about 600 BC. and ending his reign with the 4th and last
siege of Jerusalem. This siege was conducted by Nebuchadnezzar and
ended with the destruction of Jerusalem and the Babylonian captivity.
At that time Daniel and Ezekiel had already been taken captive to
Babylon Daniel in the first siege and Ezekiel in the third siege. The
only prophet left in Jerusalem during Zedekiahs reign was Jeremiah
and he makes that perfectly clear:
Jeremiah 2:8 and the prophets prophesied by Baal 5:31 and the
prophets prophesy falsely
6:13 and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth
falsely
8:10 every one dealeth falsely.
14:13-16 the prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not.
They prophesy unto you a false vision and divination.
23:16 Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto
you

27

23:21 I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken
unto them yet they prophesied 27:14-17 Therefore hearken not unto
the words of the prophets that speak unto you, saying, ye shall serve
not the King of Babylon: for they prophesy a lie unto youhearken not
to the words of your prophets that prophesy unto youhearken not
unto them; serve the King of Babylon and live. 29:8,9 Let not your
prophets and your diviners, that be in the midst of you deceive you
for they prophesy falsely unto you in my name: I have not sent them,
saith the Lord.
All these scriptures warn the people NOT to listen to any of the other
prophets because they were all false prophets and spoke lies. It is quite
clear that Jeremiah was the only true prophet of God left in Jerusalem
during the reign of Zedekiah.
Since God didnt deliver Ezekiel, Daniel, and Jeremiah from bondage,
but wanted all the people to serve the King of Babylon, why would he
favor a biblically unnamed prophet with a message in total
contradiction to the one given to Jeremiah for the whole nation of
Israel?
He gave absolutely no biblical indication that some had to serve in
Babylon, but some would be spared. In fact, He gave some pretty
severe warnings to those who would attempt to escape captivity. In
Jeremiah 28, we read about the false prophet, Hananiah, who taught
rebellion against the Lord.
If the judgment of the Lord against Hananiah was death, why would
God call and send forth another prophet, Lehi, with the same rebellious
message to the very same people and call him a true prophet?
Impossible! If the Book of Mormon were true scripture, Lehi would have

28

to be in direct disobedience to God in leaving Jerusalem to escape

capture and bondage in Babylon.
So, coming back to page one of the Book of Mormon, it immediately
fails the basic test. It does not fit into its time frame correctly as true
scripture. One need not go a page further to know that we are dealing
with a false prophet.

OUT OF THE DUST

Lets look at it from another angle. LeGrand Richards, in his famous
missionary book, A Marvelous Work and Wonder, describes the biblical
prophesies fulfilled by the Book of Mormon. He uses Isaiah 29:4 as a
proof text of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon: And thou shalt
be brought down, and shalt speak out of the ground, and thy speech
shall be low out of the dust, and thy voice shall be, as one that hath a
familiar spirit, out of the ground, and thy speech shall whisper out of
the dust.
Richards comments, Now, obviously, the only way a dead people
could speak out of the ground or out of the dust would be by the
written word and this was done through the Book of Mormon. Truly, it
has a familiar spirit, for it contains the words of the prophets of the
God of Israel.(7)
Unfortunately for Book of Mormon scholarship, the Hebrew word for
familiar spirit in this passage of Isaiah is the word, OB, which is
translated in the King James as Familiar Spirit. In the Hebrew, the word
means necromancer, or a spirit of witchcraft. There are 15 Old
Testament references to familiar spirits and all of them deal with

29

witchcraft. The word for whisper here also means chirp or peep, in
the same context.
The apostle, LeGrand Richards, and the tens of thousands of Mormons
who use his words as evidence that the Book of Mormon has this same
familiar spirit, tie their scripture solidly to witchcraft. They are
heartily welcome to the label. Again, without raving shouts, the Book of
Mormon fails its own challenge.
STICKS AND SCROLLS
Of the several other key biblical prophecies of the Book of Mormon,
one other stands out as the most common of all LDS proof scriptures.
It is in Ezekiel 37:15-17. The Scripture reads as follows: The Word of
the Lord came again unto me, saying, moreover, thou son of man, take
thee one stick, and write upon it, For Judah, and for the children of
Israel his companions: then take another stick, and write upon it, For
Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his
companions: and join them one to another into one stick; and they
shall become one in thine hand.
The LDS Church teaches that the sticks mentioned above are really
scrolls (rolled on the sticks). They teach that the stick of Judah is the
Bible and the stick of Joseph is the Book of Mormon. The joining
together of the two sticks is a prophecy that the two books would
become one witness as they would be joined together by the LDS
Church. This is made clearly evident in the LDS scripture: . . .and with
Moroni, whom I have sent unto to you to reveal the Book of Mormon,
containing the fullness of my everlasting gospel, to whom I have
committed the keys of the record of the stick of Ephraim. (D&C
27:5)

30

In actuality, the Hebrew word used here for stick is ES, or ETS,
meaning wood, tree or stick. The Hebrew words for scroll, roll, book, or
writing, include Sepher, Dabar, Sephar, and Siphrah. Now, the Old
Testament talks about sticks, rolls, books, writings, scrolls and so on.
Yet, in no case has God ever used the word for stick to mean anything
but a piece of wood. He never interchanged these words.
What was happening in this scripture? If you read the very next few
verses, the people ask Ezekiel what he meant and he explained that
the sticks represented the two kingdoms of Israel that shall be joined
together just as the sticks were in his hands (verses 18-22).
Further, it was Ezekiel who wrote on both sticks. He obviously did not
write both the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Again, the point is that
the evidence of such an interpretation of this prophecy just does not
exist. Ezekiel clearly defined the exact conditions and scope of the
prophecy and we have concrete historical evidence of its fulfillment.
There is no external evidence from the Bible of a future set of
scriptures such as the Mormons claim. The LDS effort to fit the Book of
Mormon into biblical context has no point of reference.
THE PEOPLE WHO WERENT THERE
Lets look at the Book of Mormon in the historic sense. God is not
obtuse. If this great society existed in the Americas, the evidences
would have to be there. Sandra Tanner, a researcher on Mormonism,
commented: The Book of Mormon claims to be an actual historical
record translated from real plates that Joseph Smith unearthed in a hill
in New York. Now, if this is a genuine history, one would assume you
could study this, just as you would study any historical book.

31

When I study the Bible, I can approach it as a total atheist or as a

believer in Christ, she continued, but either way I can study the book
historically. It does not require a testimony. You can determine where
Jerusalem is; you can determine that there was a Hebrew language.
When we turn to the book of Mormon we have nothing. There is no
Nephite language; there are no Nephite cities; there is not a map in
any book of Mormon; you cannot locate any sites. There is no evidence
for the book and yet its supposed to be an historical record.
When asked about this during the filming of THE GOD MAKERS film,
LDS Mission President, Harold Goodman, commented, Many people do
not understand the Book of Mormon. This is a history of the people that
inhabited the American ContinentNorth, South and Central America,
from about 600 B.C. to about 420 A.D., and we have much evidence, of
course, of people having lived there.
We all know that a large, complex society did exist there during those
years of Book of Mormon history. The question is still, Does the Book
of Mormon fit the time frame? We do not think it does. Yet, with
fervent zeal and that same burning testimony, the Mormons will claim
it does.
President Goodman is aware that Mormon missionaries throughout the
world are converting people to the Mormon Church by explaining to
them that archaeology has proven the Book of Mormon to be true.
Slide presentations, special firesides, and filmstrips are used along with
volumes of specialty books on the subject, available wherever LDS
books are sold.
Where are all these evidences so readily available as proof? How can
they be and not be at the same time? Either they exist as presented by
the Mormons or they dont. We cant play games with historic facts.

32

In the LDS visitors centers throughout the Church, a painting by the

artist, John Scott, is displayed. Copies are available in great abundance
wherever LDS materials are sold. The painting is called, The
Resurrected Christ in America. What is so important about this
painting? It represents Christ standing before the multitudes in front of
several of the temples in Meso- America, graphically tying in to the
millions who have viewed this painting of Jesus, the Book of Mormon
and the temples of these early civilizations. What is wrong? Neither
temple existed until about 1000 A.D., almost 10 centuries AFTER the
supposed appearance of Christ in the Americas!
The two temples are actually very well known: they are El Castillo and
El Caracol. They are also used in one of the well- known LDS proof
works, The Trial of the Stick of Joseph, by Jack West. In both
representations, their use can only be out of blind ignorance or blatant
deception.
The fact that the painting is an artists rendition is not important. It is
important that it is published widely by the church is evidence of
implied fact. The same painting is used, in part, as the cover of an LDS
pamphlet, Christ in America, written by Apostle Mark. E. Petersen
and published in 1983. Jack Wests representation may also be waved
away as the work of an individual, yet it is used widely to convert
people out of the Christian body through the use of open deception.
Could the church and people like Jack West be just blind to the facts?
We think not. Our friend, Jack Sande, wrote to John L. Sorenson,
Chairman of the Department of Anthropology, at Brigham Young
University and asked him about this problem, after receiving a copy of
the West book from a Mormon Bishop.

33

In a letter to Jack, dated October 5, 1981, John Sorenson replied, I

understand that people who have not had educational experiences
concerning archaeology could be enthusiastic about books like these of
West or Farnsworth when they see these as supporting the Book of
Mormon in which they strongly believe. I presume the Bishop who gave
you the West volume would fall into that classovercome by zeal.
Nevertheless, the fact remains that those books are worse than
useless, because they are not reasonably close to the truth. I wish the
zealous had other options open to them in the way of truthful books,
but at the moment, that is a problem.
John Sorenson sounded like a pretty upfront scholar. We went to one of
his works, dated 1980, and found that he had made a couple of very
significant observations. First, regarding the Bible, Sorenson said,
Learning about context seems unimportant to some readers of the
book [Book of Mormon]; others consider it impossible. To me the Bible
is a model in this regard.
Biblical scholarship has illuminated certain unobvious meanings of that
scriptural text showing the complex interplay between human and
divine influences and establishing the Bible as a record all the more
profound, because it is anchored in a complex reality of time, space
and behavior. I have wanted that same illumination for Lehis people
and their book.
And what of that book? He made no evasive apologies, but hit directly
home with his point: After nearly 150 years since the Nephite record
was first published by Joseph Smith, we Mormons have been unable
confidently to pin down the location of a single city, identify even one
route they traversed, or sketch an accurate picture of any segment of
the life they lived in their American promised land. In many respects,

34

the Book of Mormon remains a sealed book to us because we have

been incapable of placing it in its specific setting.(8)
John Sorenson is not the only Mormon scholar who is a realist in this
matter. Dr. Ross T. Christensen, BYU professor and head of the Society
for Early Historic Archeology, stands by his side. Over twenty years
earlier, in an article for the University Archaeological Society, Dr.
Christensen wrote, In the first place, the statement that the Book of
Mormon has already been proved by archaeology is misleading. The
truth of the matter is that we are only beginning to see even the
outlines of the archeological time-periods which could compare with
those of the Book of Mormon. How, then, can the matter have been
settled once and for all?
Christensen continued, That such an idea could exist indicates the
ignorance of many of our people with regard to what is going on in the
historical and anthropological sciences. With the exception of Latterday Saint archaeologists, members of the archaeological profession do
not, and never have espoused the Book of Mormon in any sense of
which I am aware.
He added, As for the notion that the Book of Mormon has already been
proved by archaeology, I must say with Shakespeare, Lay not that
flattering unction to your soul.(Hamlet III:4) (9)
Another honest Mormon scholar, Dee F. Green, asserts, The first myth
we need to eliminate is that Book of Mormon archaeology exists. He
has termed the Churchs current approach to Mormon archaeology as a
back door one, and he is right. (10)
In the January/February 1981 Sunstone Magazine, Martin Raish, a
doctoral candidate and teacher of Art History at BYU, wrote one of the

35

best scholarly reports I have ever read on this subject of amateur

attempts to prove the Book of Mormon through historic evidence.
He goes through the works of such men as Jack West, Dewey
Farnsworth, Paul Cheeseman and Wayne Hamby, showing the exact
manner in which the reader of their works is manipulated with
sweeping assumptions, questionable artifacts, misdated archaeology
and mismatched scriptures and pictures, all designed to assure the
reader that the Book of Mormon is fact. Raish cautions the LDS
community that these pseudo-scholarly tactics thwart the best efforts
of the LDS professionals.
He concludes I do not think that we will ever prove the Book of
Mormon to be true through archaeological evidences any more than we
can yet prove the date of the Creation through scientific mean
alone.(11)
So we fall back again on the Challenge the Book of Mormon Makes to
the World, that we spoke of earlier. It has to fit its time frame. This is
not only reasonable, it is imperative. Yet, while it is the very standard
for the Bible, it appears to be impossible for the Book of Mormon.
Dr. Charles Crane spent most of his lifetime studying the Bible and also
the LDS scriptures. He is an active student of both Bible and Mormon
Archaeology. He explained the differences to us. The simple facts, he
said, are that the truth does not match the LDS stories. While the
accuracy of the Bible has been vindicated time and again, we have yet
to find the first Book of Mormon City.
The Mormon non-scholars keep trying to associate with the historic
evidences of the Aztec and Mayan Temple builders. Yet, at every
corner, warning flags leap up. Recently, on March 26th, 1982, the Utah

36

Museum of Natural History held a presentation by Nicholas M.

Hellmuth. His subject; The Human Sacrificial Practices of the Maya!
In the May 25, 1980 (Section G, page 1) Salt Lake Tribune, an article
authored by New York Times writer, Boyce Rensberger, listed recent
archaeological findings that push back the Mayan origins to 9000 B.C.
In his book, Christ in Ancient America, Volume II, Dr. Milton R. Hunter,
then a member of the First Council of the Seventy, described the
Quetzalcoatl god of the Aztecs and the Olmecs as Jesus. He states,
Quetzalcoatl could have been none other than Jesus the Christ, the
Lord and God of this earth, and the Savior of the human family. Thus
Jesus Christ and Quetzalcoatl are identical.
He further quotes LDS President and Prophet John Taylor, who in 1882
stated, The story of the life of the Mexican divinity, Quetzalcoatl,
closely resembles that of the Savior; so closely, indeed, that we can
come to no other conclusion than that Quetzalcoatl and Christ are the
same being.(12)
He later explains that Quetzalcoatl was represented as the Feathered
Serpent, which has its identification with the Plumed Serpent of
Egyptian origin, and the serpent in the Garden of Eden. The serpent,
in early times was also identified with the Crucifixion, and hence was
also a symbol of the Son of Man. He goes on to explain, In this
Chapter and throughout the book, the serpent will be presented as a
symbol of Quetzalcoatl or Jesus and no further reference will be made
to its identification with the Prince of Darkness, or Lucifer.(13)
Dear reader, this is utter nonsense. Quetzalcoatl dates back into the
far distance before the Book of Mormon era began. He was the God of
learning and civilization, and he appeared in the Olmec religion around

37

2000 B.C. The Feathered Serpent was a pagan idol requiring blood
sacrifice.
From this point and all through the temple building eras surrounding
the Book of Mormon dating, the Feathered Serpent God Cult began to
take over and the once beneficent Quetzalcoatl was incarnated into the
bloodthirsty Feathered Serpent. Untold hundreds of thousands of
innocent victims died to offer up their still-beating hearts to this bloody
idol during the so-called Book of Mormon years. If this is the American
Jesus Christ of Mormonism, they are welcome to him!
It wasnt until many hundreds of years beyond the Nephite era that a
Toltec king named Ce Acatal Topiltzin ascended the throne and took the
name of Quetzalcoatl and sought to re-establish the gentle theology of
the original god as the principle deity of the Toltec nation. This took
place in 968 A.D. The bloodthirsty priests disgraced and banished him
from the nation. This gentle king promised to return in a one reed
year (Mayan Calendar), and hence the legend of the return of
Quetzalcoatl. By the way, Cortez landed in 1519, a one reed year!
(14)
Returning again to the task of trying to fit the Book of Mormon into its
own background and time frame, lets look at one of literally hundreds
of conditions that make it impossible.
For a brief moment, lets assume that Lehi was right and Jeremiah
wrong, and that these travelers truly did land on the western shores of
the Americas somewhere. Now, lets evaluate one of the major
activities of this group in light of history and fact.
In II Nephi, Chapter 5, Nephi separates himself and his family, along
with his two brothers and their families, and takes along his two young

38

brothers and his sisters. Bear in mind that this whole story takes place
before 30 years have passed since they left Jerusalem. Just getting to
the boat took enough time that Jacob and Joseph were born, so we
cant be talking about more than 20-25 years at best.
In all, we are talking about three grown men, several young boys and a
very small number of women and children. In II Nephi 5:15- 17, Nephi
describes how they built a temple constructed after the manner of the
Temple of Solomon.
Just try to envision less than a dozen able-bodied people building a
temple like unto Solomons. Solomons Temple was built of stone,
precious metals and enough cedar to keep 80,000 hewers of wood
busy (I Kings 5:13-15). It took Solomon over 7 years (I Kings 6:38), and
well over 150,000 full time workers (II Chronicles 2:18).
Then try to ignore the fact that in verse 15 he claims that the temple
was built with all manner of wood, iron, steel (not found in the
Americas for over another 1500 years), gold, silver and precious ores
which were in great abundance; then, in verse 16, the claims they
could not use these things since they were not to be found upon the
land.
At the completion of this great temple, and still within the 30 years
since leaving Jerusalem, Nephi reports that the people desired that he
should be made king. Remember, this is a small clan of less than two
dozen people, men, women and children included.
Again, the Book of Mormon cannot fit into its background and time
frame. It is a failure in every sense of what it pretends to be.

39

There is one final item of significance that I would like to discuss, and it
is one that is totally outside anything I have read about the Book of
Mormon or any of its promoters claims or its critics challenges.
If we were to gather together 4 or 5 families and leave for an unknown
land to be able to worship in our own manner, we would probably take
our scriptures and our form of worship and develop our religious
practices in very fundamentalist mannera form of worship that would
have a lasting effect upon our new society.
One thing for which the Jewish faith is noted for is its tenacity over
centuries of time to maintain its own identity. This is not represented
by a single shred of evidence anywhere in the Americas of the Book of
Mormon.
Another unmovable Jewish trait is the utter inability of anyone to
destroy the Hebrew language throughout centuries of time.
Again, not a shred of an example appears in the Mormon claim.
Instead, we are asked to believe that devout Jewish scholars would
transcribe their most sacred scriptures in reformed Egyptian. Bear in
mind that the Hebrew people were forbidden to deal with anything
Egyptian. To do so would defile the priesthood of God! (Nephi 13:2331)
CHECK THE CALENDAR
Lastly, if we were to embark on such a journey, we would take our
calendar! This is the final flaw in there being any possibility of the Book
of Mormon being true, or Jewish in the slightest.
Did the people who lived in the Americas between 600 B.C. and 420
A.D. have anything even remotely resembling the Jewish 360-day

40

calendar? Did their months and holidays bear any name resemblance?
If not, they could not have been Jewish!
In actuality, approximately three thousand years ago, on the coastal
plain of southern Mexico, a priest received a revelation from the Sun
God that not only determined the course of history for Meso-America,
but destroyed the remotest possibility of the Book of Mormon being a
true history of these people.
At precisely noon on the date we call August 13, probably in the year
1358 B.C., the priest noticed that no tree, pillar or post cast a shadow.
Counting the days to the next such experience, he finally was
rewarded 260 days later, and again after another 105 days, on the
next August 13th, it occurred again.
These events took place at Izapa, a ceremonial center on the MexicoGuatemalan border.
And here began a sacred calendar of a 13-unit cycle with 20 day
names, known as the Tzolkin or Tonalamatl. Once in place, this
almanac became the basis of all religions, art and science in the
civilizations that followed.
The Izapans used the sacred calendar names to name their chiefs and
nobles.
These names were designated by one of 20 animals important to the
local mythology, such as Alligator, Buzzard, Eagle, Jaguar, Snake, Deer,
etc. Each 52 years, they would recycle the whole process.
Even after they realized the significance of the 365-day solar calendar,
this sacred calendar tied together the nations and religions of this
entire part of the world. Under no circumstance could such a complex

41

calendar exist and extend its influence out across the many centuries if
the advanced civilization of the 1000 year Book of Mormon era ever
existed.(15)
WHAT MORE CAN WE SAY?
What more can we say? The Book of Mormon has had over 4,000
changes to it, and yet, it is supposed to the most perfect book in the
world, according to its translator. Eleven grown men bore witness to
its reality, yet eight of these left the Church as apostates. There has
never been a gold plate found of such as was described by Joseph
Smith, and brass plates such as the ones described as containing the
Jewish scriptures taken from Jerusalem have never been discovered.
Not one exists anywhere in the Jewish world.
Further, why would God speak to a nineteenth century American in
archaic, seventeenth-century English? Would he speak that way to a
Peruvian? Is God limited somehow to King James English as His official
language? Where do we stop and account for what has been said?
PEARL OF GREAT PRICE
No discussion of LDS scripture would be complete without touching
upon the Pearl of Great Price, and in particular, The Book of Abraham.
Joseph Smith translated the Book of Abraham from some papyrus
fragments that he had purchased from a man claiming to be an
Egyptologist traveling through the area with several mummies on
display.
Using several of the facsimiles from the papyri, Joseph Smith
demonstrated that these were representations of Abraham in Egypt
and proceeded to then translate the papyri fragments into their

42

English meanings. This was done prior to the general understanding of

the Rosetta Stone decoding of the ancient Egyptian language.
In a comparison of the papyri to Josephs notes, it was apparent that
the 13th and 14th verses of Abraham 1 were translated from one
single character resembling a backward E. Yet, in fact, Joseph Smith
translated this into 76 words, with 9 proper names and 8 other nouns.
The character for the Egyptian god, Khonso, was translated by Joseph
Smith into 177 words in Abraham 1:16-19.
Dealing with this issue has been a major test of faith for Mormon
scholars. Three major non-LDS Egyptologists, Klaus Baer, Richard A.
Parker and the late John A. Wilson reviewed the fragments and all
concluded that Josephs translation was totally incorrect and his
restorations of the facsimiles were a gross injustice to the art of
Egyptology.
Parker describes Fascimile 1 as a well-known scene from the Osiris
mysteries, with Anubis, the jackal-headed god on the left, ministering
to the dead Osiris on the bier. The penciled restoration (by Smith) is
incorrect. Anubis should be jackal- headed. The left arm of Osiris is in
reality lying at his side under him. The apparent upper hand is part of a
second bird which is hovering over the erect phallus of Osiris (now
broken away). The second bird is Isis and she is magically impregnated
by the dead Osiris and then later gives birth to Horus who avenges his
father and takes over his inheritance.(16)
Klaus Baer basically repeats the same description in his translation of
the papyri as the Breathing Permit of Hor. He states, The vignette of
P. JS I is unusual, but parallels exist on the walls of the Ptolemaic
temples of Egypt, the closest being the scenes in the Osiris chapels on
the roof of the Temple of Dendera.

43

He specifically describes Facsimile 1: There are some problems about

restoring the missing parts of the body of Osiris. He was almost
certainly represented as ithyphallic, ready to beget Horus, as in many
of the scenes at Dendera.(17)
In all, all three Egyptologists confirm that the Joseph Smith papyri deal
exclusively with pagan rituals, pagan gods and the Breathing Permit of
Hor.
One of the most revealing and honest in-house appraisals of this
document was published by Dr. Edward H. Ashment. He was an LDS
Egyptologist working with the translation department of the LDS
Church. (18)
Throughout Ashments Appraisal of the Facsimiles, he deals with pagan
rituals and pagan gods. At no time does he make a connection to
Abraham, Abrahams God or Abrahams religionjust paganism. While
Ashment went far out of his way in softening any blows against the
prophet, Joseph, no one can read his work and not see the totally
illiterate definitions given the pagan works by Joseph Smith.
How any intelligent Mormon can hold these pornographic drawings in
the Pearl of Great Price as the sacred Word of God is blasphemy and
blindness at its highest.
Previously, I described the Mormon scriptures as similar to a pickup
truck filled with tangled fishing line. We are still standing in that pickup
truck, up to our waists, almost incomprehensibly looking all about us at
the unbelievable mess. Where do we go from here? We have hardly
begun to clear up the twisted ends.
Our God is not the author of such confusion. I have taken you far
enough so that you may never doubt what Proverbs 30:6 means when
44

it says, Add thou not unto His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou
be found a liar. What you have seen here is an endless series of lies
built upon lies, so compounded that it is an impossible task to work
your way back to truth.

References:
(1) Pearl Of Great Price, page 60.
(2) Orson Pratt, The Bible Alone An Insufficient Guide, Early LDS
Pamphlet, pages 44-47.
(3) Joseph F. Smith, The Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 1938,
page 327.
(4) Doctrine and Covenants, Section 9:8-9.
(5) Ensign Magazine, October 1979, page 18.
(6) Edvalson & Smith, Plain and Precious Parts, published by the
Seventys Mission Bookstore, Provo, Utah, 1977, pages 62-63.
(7) LeGrand Richards, A Marvelous Work and Wonder, page 69.
(8) John L. Sorenson, An Ancient American Setting For The Book of
Mormon, 1980, pages 0/2-0/3.
(9) Dr. Ross T. Christensen, The University Archaeological Society
Report, Number 19, December, 1960, pages 8-9.
(10) Michael Coe, Mormons and Archaeology, An Outside View,
Dialogue, A Journal of Mormon Thought, Pages 40-48.

45

(11) Martin Raish, All That Glitters: Uncovering Fools Gold in Book of
Mormon Archaeology, Sunstone, Volume Six, Number One, pages 10-15
(12) Dr. Charles Crane, A Comparison of the Bible and the Book of
Mormon, pages 9-11.
(13) Milton R. Hunter, Christ in Ancient America, Vol. II, pages 51-53.
(14) Ibid. page 121.
(15) James Witham, Archaeology and the Book of Mormon, a Slide
presentation with notes, pages 5-8.
(16) Vincent H. Malmstrom, Where Time Began, Science Digest,
December 1981, pages 56-59,112-113.
(17) Richard A. Parker, The Joseph Smith Papyri, A Preliminary Report,
Dialogue, Summer 1968, page 86.
(18) Klaus Baer, The Breathing Permit of Hor, Dialogue, Summer
1968, pages 109-110, 119
(19) Dr. Edward H. Ashment, The Facsimiles of the Book of Abraham,
Sunstone, Volume 4, Numbers 5 and 6, pages 33-48.

46

47

THE TEMPLE OF THE GOD MAKERS

By Ed Decker

"For there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid,
that shall not be known. Therefore, whatsoever ye have spoken in
darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in
the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops." (Luke
12:2,3)
This subject is, without a doubt, the most difficult portion of Mormon
theology. It is so sacred that only one out of every four Mormons have
ever participated in its ritual, so strict that only half of this select few
are still worthy to go through the rites again. It is so secret that every
participant must swear never to reveal its mysteries under the penalty
of death. I am speaking about The Temple of the God Makers.

48

Bear in mind, I am describing the Temple ritual as I went through it,

before the changes of 1990 removed some of what we had been
pointing out as ungodly, demonic ritual. For an updated picture, check
out the several articles on our website, www.saintsalive.com that deal
with the changes. Meanwhile, realize that the majority of LDS leaders,
locally and in Salt Lake City, went through the rituals as I describe
below.
That you may know the power of the adversary over this cadre of
devout followers, I share these innermost secrets with you, exposing
the things of darkness to the light of Truth, God's Holy Word. That you
may know the truth of what I say, I confess that before the light of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ set me free I was personally a partaker of these
"unfruitful works of darkness" and speak out of my own experience and
knowledge. The very things that I charge them with, I also participated
in while in that same spiritual darkness.
But, praise God! Paul was also speaking to me when he said, "For ye
were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as
children of the Lord. "He told us to "have no fellowship with the
unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them!" (Ephesians
5:11)
The Mormon Temple is the very center of that faith. While the Prophet
is the link between man and God, the Temple is the link between man
and godhood! Only in it can the Mormon gain the secret knowledge
that will be the key to actually stepping into godhood.
Mormon Temples are among the most beautiful buildings in existence,
with no dollar spared in creating each Temple as a showplace of beauty
and elegance.
49

There are two types of ordinances performed in the Temples:

ordinances for the living, and the identical rituals done by proxy for the
dead, who then have the chance to become Temple Mormons while
waiting in "Spirit Prison" for the Millennium. If they choose to accept
the proxy ritual, they are then allowed to go to "Paradise", the home of
all worthy Mormons who have died.
The first "special" ritual for the dead is water baptism by proxy. The
dead are then taken through the rest of the rituals by proxy. Proxy
temple work is the main activity of Mormons who having once taken
out their own endowments and then return to do this vicarious work
for the dead.
It is interesting to note that the baptismal fonts in all temples are
positioned blow ground level. I was told by one Salt lake Temple Guide
that this is appropriate because they are dealing with the dead.
The Temple and its associated "unspoken blessings" are on the hearts
of every member. Either they are striving to be worthy enough to go, or
burdened by deep guilt of failing this worthiness, or bound by secret
pride at being one of the worthy, select few.
I can remember our own excitement at being considered a worthy
candidate family. We were converts and yearned to have our Christian
marriage superseded by their higher, eternal one. Our children were to
be "sealed" to us and we would live on in the family unit in the next
life, as we stepped into "Celestial Exaltation".
We were interviewed for our worthiness by the local Bishop and upon
his approval we were again interviewed by the Stake President (who
50

oversees approximately ten Bishops). How thrilled we were to hold the

small papers declaring their approval!
We had our very first annual "Temple Recommends" which we would
show to gain our entrance into the Temple. We would be reviewed
again each year and new "Recommends" issued if we continued to be
worthy.
We arrived at the Temple with great anticipation. After presenting our
"Recommends", we were led into a lobby area where we rented the
special clothes we would wear through the ceremony and purchased
the set of "holy garments" we would wear home. We were then taken
to the entries of the lower level dressing rooms and were separated.
Once arriving in the dressing area, I was instructed to strip and remove
all my clothing, placing a poncho-like open-sided sheet over my head.
Wearing this "shield", I was led to the Washing and Anointing Room
where a Temple worker ceremonially washed and blessed each
member of my body. I moved on to the next station, where another
worker anointed the same parts of my body with oil, chanting the same
sing-song blessings I had just received.
I was then dressed in the "garment of the Holy Priesthood"(1), (a basic,
one-piece set of long-john underwear). The worker instructed me that I
would be required to wear this "shield and protection from the power of
the destroyer" 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, except to bathe or
change the garment itself.
The "garment" contains special markings on each breast, the navel,
and the right knee, and would act as a mystical talisman to shield me
from the power of evil so long as I would wear the garment and keep
51

the Temple oaths. What a pity that I had no understanding of the true
armor of God found in Ephesians 6:10-18.
The worker then whispered my secret "new name", (Joseph), which
only God and I would know, and by which God would call me forth from
the grave. I was forbidden to tell even my wife this name, but the
worker told me her "new name", (Mary), so that I could call her forth
from the grave on the morning of the first resurrection. Again, I didn't
realize that every man or woman in the Temple that day received the
same name or its alternate.
Returning to my locker, I dressed in the white Temple clothing I had
rented, locked my locker (?) and went upstairs to join the rest of that
day's Temple "patrons". When I arrived at the beautiful "Endowment"
Room, my wife was across the room, seated with the other women.
They are not able to sit with the men during the Endowment
Ceremony, and must keep their faces veiled during all prayers.
The Endowment is actually a two-hour ceremony-drama-ritual
describing man's origin, Adam's obedient step into mortality, and a
series of secret signs, words, oaths and covenants necessary for each
of us to finally achieve immortality and godhood.
These take place in magnificently decorated muralled rooms: the
Creation Room, the Garden Room, the Lone and Dreary World, the
Telestial World, and ending at the critical test -- the Veil Ceremony,
through which each patron finally passes into the Celestial Room.
In the Creation Room, the patrons are instructed that the "garment of
the Holy Priesthood" represents the garment given to Adam when he
was found naked in the Garden of Eden.
52

It is of great importance to note that in the Biblical account Adam was

not naked but wore a fig leaf apron. God rejected it as unacceptable. It
was the work of Adam's own hands; his attempt to cover his own sin.
God then clothe Adam and Eve in coats of skins (Genesis 3:7,21). The
Lord had to shed blood to clothe them. It was the first sin and the first
sin covering. The shedding of blood still is the only acceptable covering
for sin to this day, except that it is now covered once and for all in
Christ (Hebrews 9:12-26).
The sacred "garment" falls into the very same category as the aprons
of fig leaves! Mormon theology cannot deal with either the first sin
covering or the last. This basic, fatal error will appear and reappear
throughout the ritual. The parallel goes even deeper. In the Garden
sequence, the patrons listen as Lucifer instructs Adam and Eve that
there is no other way to gain the knowledge to become as gods than to
disobey Father and eat the fruit. Remember, Mormon doctrine teaches
that Lucifer is the brother of Jesus and the rebellious but literal son of
God.(2)
As Adam and Eve hear from Lucifer in this Lone and Dreary World
section of the ritual, Adam points to the Apron Lucifer is wearing and
is told that the emblems thereon are the emblems of his power and
priesthoods. No one seems to notice that they are identical to the
emblems sewn into the holy garments each patron is wearing.
As soon as Adam learns that the apron Lucifer is wearing symbolizes
Lucifer's power and priesthoods, Lucifer instructs Adam and Eve to
fashion aprons for themselves out of fig leaves. It is more than a
coincidence that Lucifer's apron contains the identical Masonic Square
and Compass emblems, as do the breast markings on the "garment of
53

the Holy Priesthood" and as we would later discover, on the Temple Veil
itself.
The patrons are instructed to place their own fig leaf aprons on as
Lucifer also directs Adam and Eve in a representation of Genesis 3.
These aprons are worn throughout the entire Endowment, and this
emblem of Lucifer's covers both the "sacred garment" and pleated
robes of the "Holy Priesthood".
Why an apron must be worn that is the emblem of satanic power and
priesthoods is never questioned by the patrons.
As the Mormon god, Elohim, comes upon the scene and discovers that
Lucifer has beguiled Adam and Eve, he is shocked. This is in spite of
the Mormon doctrine that Elohim knew in advance of the plan to entrap
Adam into mortality.(3)
Elohim curses Lucifer to crawl on his belly and eat dust forever, and
that his head would be crushed. Lucifer arrogantly defies Elohim to his
face. He promises to "reign with blood and horror on the earth. "He
then goes about his business and overcomes his curse, since he never
changes his conduct or bodily functions. What kind of God is Elohim,
anyway? Is his son, Lucifer, that much stronger than he?
Surely this is not the God of the Holy Word! The prophet Isaiah
proclaimed His power in this matter by showing that Lucifer was cast
down to hell because he sought to exalt his throne above the throne of
God (Isaiah 14:12-15). Lucifer was a fallen angel, and to which angel
has God ever said, "Thou art my son?" (Hebrews 1:5)

54

After Adam is cast out of the Garden, he builds an altar, lifts his arms
above his head and calls out three times, "Oh God, hear the words of
my mouth. "Yet, it is Lucifer who answers and says, "I hear you, what is
it you want?" Adam asks, "Who are you?" and Lucifer replies, "I am the
god of this world!" How can this be? Is Lucifer the Mormon god?
Look at it a little deeper. Later in the Endowment the patrons raise
their arms and chant "Pay Lay Ale" three times. They are told these
were the exact syllables Adam prayed. The Hebrew translation of these
words can either be "marvelous false god" or "Marvelous True God."
When Adam prayed, he believed what Lucifer taught, wore the apron
Lucifer said was his emblem, and bore his markings upon his breast. It
is no wonder that Lucifer, "the god of this world" answered! Mormons
often say there are many gods, but the only one they worship is the
"god of this world."
Whatever the meaning of Pay Lay Ale, it is obvious that Lucifer has the
authority to answer this call to "god" in the LDS Temple. When the
patrons call out "Pay Lay Ale" they wear the same apron that Adam
wore, bearing emblems that Lucifer had claimed to be the emblems of
his power and priesthoods.
If you are still not sure if they pray to the false god or the true God, did
you know that the chant has been changed? Until just before 1930,
they chanted "Pale hale hale" or "Pale ale ale." What a coincidence!
The direct Hebrew translation of "Pele Heylel" is "Marvelous Lucifer"!
(4) (now there is a micro-brewery product in Seattle called Pale Ale!)

55

When Lucifer discovers that Adam is "seeking a messenger", he

interprets it to mean that Adam needs the religious instruction
necessary to pass back into immortality.
The Mormon Lucifer then tries to deceive Adam into receiving false
doctrine and training from a Protestant minister who is portrayed as a
dimwitted but willing hireling of Satan, ineffectively spouting what is
poorly represented as true Christian theology. This portion of the ritual
has been removed from the new er ritual. I sense that it because they
now prov claim that they are clearly a part of the orthodox Christian
body and such
The dialogue between Adam, Lucifer, and the Protestant minister is
significant in that it demonstrates a clear mockery and rejection of
orthodoxy. Every patron who passes beyond this point must
consciously reject the very fundamentals of Christianity.
"Brethren and sisters, this represents the Telestial Kingdom, or the
world in which we now live."
Adam, on finding himself in the Lone and Dreary World, builds an altar
and offers prayer and these are the words he uttered:
(Adam) "Oh God, hear the words of my mouth. Oh God, hear the words
of my mouth. Oh God, hear the words of my mouth."
(Lucifer) "I hear you. What is it you want?"
(Adam) "Who are you?"
(Lucifer) "I am the god of this world.
(Adam) "You? The god of this world?"
(Lucifer) "Yes. What do you want?
(Adam) "I am looking for messengers."

56

(Lucifer) "Oh, you want someone to preach to you. You want religion,
do you? I will have preachers here presently.
(Lucifer) "Good morning sir."
(Preacher) "Good morning! A fine congregation."
(Lucifer) "Yes, they are very good people. They are concerned about
religion. Are you a preacher?"
(Preacher) "I am."
(Lucifer) "Have you been to college and received training for the
ministry?"
(Preacher) "Certainly! A man cannot preach unless he has been trained
for the ministry."
(Lucifer) "Do you preach the "orthodox" religion?"
(Preacher) "Yes, that is what I preach."
(Lucifer) "If you will preach the orthodox religion to these people and
convert them, I will pay you well."
(Preacher) "I will do my best."
(Lucifer) "Here is a man who desires religion. He is very much
exercised and seems to be sincere."
(Preacher) "I understand you are inquiring after religion."
(Adam) "I was calling upon Father."
(Preacher) "I'm glad to know that you were calling upon Father. Do you
believe in a god who is without body parts and passions? Who sits on
the top of a topless throne? Whose center's everywhere and whose
circumference is nowhere? Who fills the universe and yet is so small
that He can dwell in your heart? Who is surrounded by millions of
beings who have been saved by grace, not for any act of theirs but by
his good pleasure. Do you believe in this great being? "
(Adam) "I do not. I cannot comprehend such a being."
(Preacher) "That is the beauty of it. Perhaps you do not believe in the
devil, or that great hell, the bottomless pit where there is a lake of fire

57

and brimstone into which the wicked are cast, and where they are
continually burning but are never consumed."
(Adam) "I do not believe in any such place."
(Preacher) "My dear friend, I am sorry for you."
(Lucifer) "I am sorry. Very, very sorry. What is it you want?"
(Adam) "I am looking for messengers from my Father."
Adam is saved in the nick of time by Peter, James, and John, who prove
they are "true messengers" by the use of a secret handshake and sign.
No one seems to wonder how they came to have physical bodies
several thousands of years before they were born! The patrons are
exhorted by Adam to "give strict heed to their counsel and teachings
and they will lead you in the way of life and salvation!"
All this is a prelude to each patron being drawn into swearing a series
of special "covenants" and blood oaths that bind him/her into satanic
bondage.
Several of the covenants are critical. As they prepare to covenant to
obey The Law of Sacrifice, the patrons are instructed that in "the
similitude of the sacrifice of Christ", the posterity of Adam to Jesus
"offered up the first fruits of the field, and the firstlings of the flock."
They are instructed that they must covenant to sacrifice all they
possess, even their own lives if necessary, in sustaining and defending
the kingdom of God (the Mormon Church). All patrons rise and
solemnly agree.
Until the summer of 1985, in Salt Lake City at the Temple Square
Visitor's Center, sat a very quiet statue. This little arrangement was
perhaps the most significant display at Temple Square! It truly
represented the blind depth of this Mormon heresy. It was a
58

representation of Adam and Eve kneeling at an altar. On the altar was

their offering of fruits and vegetables. A little lamb sat happily at their
side. Where have you seen this type of offering before? It is the
offering of CAIN, which God rejected! (Genesis 4:3-5)
It is interesting to note that the statue was replaced just AFTER we
publicly made it a key example of the LDS heresy.
The Law of Consecration is similar. The patrons "consecrate
themselves, their time, talents, and everything with which the Lord has
blessed them, or with which he may bless them, to the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter Day Saints."
All of this is tied together by The Law of Obedience, in which the
women covenant to obey their husbands and the husbands, in turn,
agree to obey the "Law of Elohim" (which means to obey the Prophet
and the Holy Priesthood leaders).
With the laws come a set of four secret handshakes called tokens, and
their secret names, signs and penalties. While they are singularly
significant in that they are identical in every sense to their Masonic
counterparts through the Master Mason level, the blood oaths that
accompany these eternal mysteries cannot be ignored.
I must wonder how many Masons will get into the Mormon Celestial
Kingdom since they know all the signs, tokens, and penalties?
The execution of the penalty for the First Token of the Aaronic
Priesthood is done by placing the thumb under the left ear, the palm
down and by drawing the thumb quickly across the throat to the right

59

ear. This represents having your throat slit from ear to ear (and used to
include having your tongue ripped out).
The execution of the penalty for the First Token of the Melchizedek
Priesthood or The Sign of the Nail, is made by placing the thumb over
the left hip, drawing it quickly across the body. This represents having
your belly ripped open and having your bowels and intestines spewn
upon the ground. Real nice stuff! Notice the two priesthoods -- Aaronic
and Melchizidek! Lucifer said the apron was the emblem of his power
and priesthoods!
The follow-up of each execution of a penalty is the sworn vow of the
participant not to reveal what has been learned or to so suffer his life
to be taken! Where in all Judeo/Christian history has there ever been
any such oath except it be pagan or occult? Jesus condemns such
oaths in Matt. 5:34-37.
Can the reader even imagine the anguish experienced by some of us
first-time Temple patrons? Looking for the highest point of our religious
experience, we encountered unbelievable, barbaric, bloody oaths. My
mind was in total chaos that first day.
The patrons finally find themselves before the Veil, which is actually a
series of high, three-foot wide segments of beautiful ivory fabric. There
are many segments, divided between men and women. Each segment
has its "Marks of the Priesthood" which relate to the four garment
marks. The key marks in both correspond to the Masonic Compass and
Square, which were first revealed as key emblems on Lucifer's apron. A
"Veil worker" represents the "Lord" behind each Veil and a Temple
worker assists as each patron approaches the Veil and is tested on all
that was instructed. They are told that they will someday meet the
60

Lord exactly in this manner, and if they cannot remember all the
tokens, signs, names, and penalties letter perfect, they cannot enter
into his presence through the Veil. Only when the patron completes the
ritual correctly is he permitted to pass through the Veil.
Isn't it interesting that nowhere in any of these magnificent Temples is
a single cross displayed, or even mentioned? Nor is Jesus and His
redemptive work of that Cross. The entire two hours is spent in
learning the laws and ordinances by which we will be tested!
Colossians 2:14 states that Christ took those laws and ordinances that
were against us, and nailed them to His cross. When Jesus said, "It is
finished!" upon the cross, the Temple Veil was rent in two as the very
first response to His death. Hebrews 10:20 tells us that His broken
body represents the removal of the veil and is our entry into the
Holiest. But the Mormons reject the cross and cannot conceive of its
power. They have replaced it with the veil. (I Corinthians 1:18).
Little else needs to be said here, except that each patron must assume
the position of the "Five Points of Fellowship" with the Veil worker
through the Veil. These points are (identical in Masonry): "Inside of
right foot by the side of right foot, knee to knee, breast to breast, hand
to back and mouth to ear!" In this absurd position the patron must
chant, "Health in the navel, marrow in the bones, strength in the loins
and in the sinews, power in the Priesthood be upon me and upon my
posterity through all generations of time and throughout all eternity!"
It is at that point in the ritual of the veil, when each patron has his or
her arms fully placed through the occult slits that match both the
emblems on the Lords side of the veil and the patrons garment
markings. As they chant they are actually calling upon Lucifers power
61

and Priesthoods to be upon them and upon their posterity through all
generations of time and throughout all eternity! They have just
committed themselves and their families to be under the power of the
enemy of Christ from that day forward.
Of course, this is a classic form of occult incantation and was in use in
witchcraft and Satan worship long before the Mormon Temple
Ceremony came about, and is reportedly recorded in the notorious
"Grimorum Verum" kept by druidic priests and warlocks. What is
frightening is the calling down of the Luciferian priesthood or
priestcraft upon the patron and the patron's family for future
generations, a curse that can only be broken by the power of the true
God!
After stepping through the Veil, families are finally united! The sealing,
or marriage ceremony lasts only a few brief minutes. It is significant
that this ritual has the same dark tones to it. The presiding authority,
or Temple Sealer, seals upon the couple "the blessing of the kingdoms,
thrones, principalities, powers, dominions and exaltations."
Twice during the ritual, Lucifer warns the Mormon so engaged that he is
the power within the ritual. Once he brags: Now is the great day of
my power. I reign from the rivers to the ends of the earth. There is
none who dares to molest, or make afraid.
At a later time, he pronounces this curse upon all attendees: I have a
word to say concerning these people. If they do not walk up to every
covenant they make at these altars in this temple this day, they will be
in my power! Of course, no one could keep every part of every
covenant, and by his mouth to their ears, they are his.

62

What chance does the Mormon have against such spiritual powers of
darkness after having submitted to such dark things? The Scriptures
tell us that they are led to damnation by their leaders (Isaiah 9:16),
and that they don't know enough to be ashamed (Isaiah 44:9).
The evidences of the occult nature of Mormonism and its temple ritual
are plentiful, and are profusely represented in Mormon architecture.
Architects' drawings of the "Nauvoo Temple" show the Pentagram and
the Five-pointed Star, with the point down and accentuated! They also
appear on the Salt Lake City Temple, the entry of the New Museum of
History and Art just across South Temple Street, as well as on the new
statuary honoring Moroni in Manti, Utah. They are the highest satanic
symbols. The inverted star stands for Satan himself, referred to as
BAPHOMET, or THE GOAT OF MENDES.
The Assembly Hall, near the Salt Lake Temple, has in its center window
a magic circle or Hexagram used in witchcraft for calling up demons
and hexes. The Masonic Square and Compass are EVERYWHERE, giving
unmistakable proof that the early Mormon leaders were heavily
influenced by Freemasonry. History gives substantial evidence of this
fact. If there is ANY question as to the final position of FREEMASONRY, I
suggest you acquire a copy of my booklet on this subject. (5)
Joseph Smith was no stranger to the occult. He "possessed his own
magical Masonic medallion, or talisman, which he worked during his
lifetime and which was evidently on his person when he was
martyred... identified as a JUPITER TALISMAN." (6)
The Mormon walks out of these rituals bound to darkness by bloody
oaths and occult incantations; sealed to the very principalities and
powers we are told to be at war against (Ephesians 6:12). He is given
63

over to the spirit of self-exaltation, which caused Lucifer himself to be

cast out from the presence of God (Isaiah 14:12-15). He stands
encased in a secret set of magic underwear operating as an occult
talisman.
What chance do they have on their own? None! The Scriptures tell us
that they are led to damnation by their leaders (Isaiah 9:16), and that
they don't know enough to be ashamed (Isaiah 44:9). Yet the Lord has
given us the power to defeat Satan!
The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the
works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light." (Romans
13:12.)
We can put on that armor in Ephesians 6 to defeat the powers and
principalities of Lucifer! Yes, the Mormon people are blinded by this
dark thing. But Christ came to preach deliverance to the captives and
the recovering of sight to the blind! (Luke 4:18.) Someone like you
shared the light with me. It is given to be shared! SHARE IT!

REFERENCES
1. Sackett, Chuck. What's Going On In There? 1982.
2. Ensign. An L.D.S. Magazine. December 1980, pp.5
3. Talmage, James (L.D.S. Apostle). Articles of Faith. pp. 55, 81.
4. Strong's Concordance, Hebrew Lexicon. Items 1966, 6382.
5. Decker, J. Edward. The Question of Freemasonry. Saints Alive in
Jesus, 1985.
6. Adamson, Jack and Reed Durham, Jr. No Help For The Widow's Son.
Martin Publishing Co., 1980. p.22.

64

What is Missing in the revised ritual?

The changes include the elimination of the following:
1) The chanting of the words, PAY LAY ALE, which temple patrons
are told are from the ancient "Adamic language" and mean Oh
God, hear the words of my mouth." However, in actual Old
Testament Hebrew, it may be translated to mean "Marvelous false
god!"
2) A portion of the ceremony in which a Protestant preacher is
portrayed as a hireling of Lucifer, who is paid to preach the gospel
of salvation by grace and the omnipresence and omnipotence of
God the Father to "Adam and his posterity."
3) The penalty signs which portray the temple patron having their
throat slit, their heart ripped out, or their belly torn open for
revealing the secrets of the temple rite.
4) Women in the temple having to veil their faces in prayer.
5) Women in the temple swearing a covenant to obey their
husbands as God.
6) The Masonic "Five Points of Fellowship" embrace with "the Lord
through the veil in order to gain admittance to the Celestial Room
and the presence of Heavenly Father.

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7) The use of female Veil Workers at the veil, representing mother

goddesses, to embrace the women temple patrons and bring them
through to the Celestial Room.

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The Achilles Heel of Mormonism.

By Ed Decker

After over 50 years of being a Mormon, leaving it, researching it,

writing extensively about it in a number of books, doing years of radio
in Mormon-land, ministering to the Mormon people about the grace of
Christ, and studying my Bible all this time
I woke up during the night with a deep burden for the Mormon people
who seek a god separated from them by a hierarchy of men and a
series of works and secret rituals. Later in the week, some words in a
sermon at our church confirmed what I felt in my heart and I clearly
saw what I will call The Achilles Heel of Mormonism.
Because of the extreme gravity of this subject, I am purposely leaving
some of the edges off the information, so as not to confuse what I am
presenting, so please bear with me.

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I have called it the Achilles Heel of Mormonism because the

expression, Achilles Heel, is a metaphor for a fatal weakness that in
spite of overall strength, can actually lead to downfall.
It is my argument that the facts here-in prove that Mormonism is fully
outside orthodox, Biblical Christianity, and is, in fact, one of the antiChrists spoken of in 1 John 2:18-21. Hard words, but true. The can be
no if, ands or buts here.
When I woke up at 2 AM that night, my mind/thoughts were focused on
that moment when, as a Mormon, I stood before the great white veil in
the Los Angeles LDS temple.
I remembered vividly that I was in such awe of its presence there
before me. I knew that it represented the separation of man and God
and now I was to step up and demonstrate my knowledge of all the
sacred, names, tokens and handgrips and would then be able to step
through that veil and enter the Celestial Room.
As I lay there considering that strange event and wondering why on
earth I would lay awake mulling over something I experienced over 40
years ago, my thoughts drifted to Calvary and I could see, in my minds
eye, Christ on the Cross, crying out, It is finished!
Then, as if it came from the other room, it was as though I heard a loud
tearing and ripping and I knew it was the sound of the temple veil
being rent apart. I cannot explain the event any deeper. It was just
one of those times that you wake up to something that the Lord wants
you to think about, something out of the blue that doesnt make a
whole lot of sense at the time.

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Over the next week I began to have a more emphatic and deeper
understanding of something I have known for many years, that what I
experienced in the Mormon temple ritual could not be of God. It was
then that I saw this was the Achilles heel of Mormonism. Let me
explain.
For what Mormonism teaches as one of its core doctrines and what its
adherents practice at the Veil in its most solemn ritual, clearly makes
manifest the anti-Christ practice that assures that they are not of us
[Biblical Christianity].and may I add, until they repent, never will be.
Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that
antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists;
whereby we know that it is the last time. They went out from us,
but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no
doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they
might be made manifest that they were not all of us. But ye
have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things. I
have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but
because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth. 1 John
2:20-21KJV
In logic, the Principle of contradiction is the second of the socalled three classic laws of thought. It states that two
opposing, contradictory positions in a matter cannot both be true at
the same time and in the same sense. Mormonism cannot be both
Christian and an Anti-Christ.
The sermon at church that triggered my understanding of this was
about having intimacy with God, that oneness that Christ spoke
described:
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And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they
may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that
they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know
that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved
me. John 17:17-23 KJV
This is the wonderful life of the born-again Christian believer. We have
intimacy with God through Christ. We no longer must bring our sin
offerings to a priest. God is no longer on the other side of a temple
veil. He dwells within us, by the power of His Holy Spirit.
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the
faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. I
do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by
the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Gal 2:20-21 KJV
Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of
God dwelleth in you? 1 Cor 3:16 KJV
Adam and Eve enjoyed intimacy with God, until sin separated them
from that relationship. From that time on, until Christ, prophets were
the intermediates of God for the communication of His mind and will to
men.
At the time of Moses visitation with God on the mountain top and the
quaking in fear of the people at the thunderous voice of God from
above, it was clear that the people wanted someone to be between
them and God, to act for their benefit,

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As Israel formalized the structure of its worship, temples were built and
within the temple, a veil separated the people from the Holy of Holies,
the place of Gods Presence.
The veil of the temple. According to the Rabbis, this was a
handbreadth in thickness, and woven of seventy-two twisted
plaits, each plait consisting of twenty-four threads. It was sixty
feet long and thirty wide. Two of them were made every year,
and according to the exaggerated language of the time, it
needed three hundred priests to manipulate it.
This veil was the one that covered the entrance to the holy of
holies, and not, as has been asserted, the veil that hung before
the main entrance to the sanctuary.
The Holy of Holies contained only a large stone, on which the
high priest sprinkled the blood on the Day of Atonement,
occupying the place where the ark with the mercy-seat had
stood. (from Vincent's Word Studies in the New Testament,
Electronic Database. Copyright 1997, 2003, 2005, 2006 by
Biblesoft, Inc.)

This practice continued until and during the days of Christ. The Jewish
people still brought their sin offerings to the temple and on the Day of
Atonement, the high priest stepped through the veil into the Holy of
Holies, on behalf of the people.
However, things were changing. John the Baptist rose up as the last of
the prophets. Christ, himself, made it clear that a new thing was in
place regarding mans communication with God. Jesus said:
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For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. Matt
11:13 KJV
The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the
kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it.
Luke 16:16 KJV
Who was to take that place between Man and God from that day
forth? Jesus.
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time
past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in these last days
spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all
things, by whom also He made the worlds; Heb 1:1-2 KJV
Jesus presented new doctrine, a new salvation message, a way to have
personal intimacy with God. The religious leaders of that day were
intimidated by Him and His teachings. He told his disciples to beware
of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. He told the
Pharisees and Sadducees:
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will
do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the
truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie,
he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. John
8:44 KJV
Let us now fast forward to the Cross, to Christs redemptive gift of his
life for us on Calvary.

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But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were
yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, being now
justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through
him. For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God
by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall
be saved by his life. Rom 5:8-10 KJV

You see, Christ went to the cross as the once and for all sacrifice for
the redemption of the sins of mankind. All we have to do to accept it.
Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things
which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the
author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Called of
God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec. Heb 5:8-10 KJV
The key here is that his shed blood was the end of the work of
sacrifice, the end of the temple era. No longer was there a need for a
high priest to go through the temple veil and face God on our behalf.
Christ had fulfilled that need once and forever. He became our high
priest, in a priesthood of one, and through him, all of His people had
access to God without a veil to separate them. In His death, He tore
down that separation.
Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood
he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us. For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the
ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the
purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of
Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without
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spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve

the living God? Heb 9:12-14 KJV
No longer was there a need for a high priest to continue the
dead works of the temple. No need for a veil of separation.
Christ had fulfilled the law completely. To offer up any more
sacrifice, even of our own works to earn worthiness is to reject
the blood of Christ. I suggest that this denial of his blood
sacrifice is the reason the Mormons use water in their
communion.
For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands,
which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to
appear in the presence of God for us:
Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest
entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For
then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the
world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to
put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the
judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many;
and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time
without sin unto salvation. Heb 9: 24-28 KJV

I have gone into this in a bit more detail so that you fully understand
what happened at Calvary, when Christ died on the Cross. I had to
pick and choose from among literally dozens of scriptures that explain
what was taking place. This is not a mystery.
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Christs death was the final act of the Old Testament. It was the end of
the law and the prophets. It was the literal restoration of mans ability
to have intimacy with God, by the hand of God through the sacrifice of
His only begotten son
It is not just a saying that people flash in the end zones at football
games. It is the word of God through Christ
And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so
must the Son of man be lifted up: That whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved
the world, that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John
3:14-16 KJV
When Christ hung on the Cross, eternity stood still. And when it was
over, something eternally significant happened. It was
God Himself, restoring our intimacy with Him. Matthew, Mark and Luke
each described it.
Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the
ghost.
And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the
top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
Matt 27:50-51KJV
Jesus cried with a loud voice, and gave up the ghost. And the veil
of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. Mark
15:37-38KJV

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And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in
the midst, And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, he said,
Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit: and having said
thus, He gave up the ghost. Luke 23:45-46 KJV

The Great theologian Matthew Henry said of this moment, that

It bespeaks a great deal of comfort to all believing Christians,
for it signifies the consecrating and laying open to us of a new
and living way into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.
You see, from that moment on, there never has been a need for a veil
to stand between man and God or a priestly intercessor to take our
place. Christ did away with the entire reason for such an obstacle to
be between God and his children.
To keep the veil between the people and God is to refuse to accept the
gift of personal salvation given freely at the Cross. To keep the veil is
to deny that Jesus is the Christ, the one who fully redeemed us.
To place a veil between God and man is to deny Christ, deny the power
of the cross in uniting man with God and to mock Gods reason for the
sacrifice of Christ.
It is only as an anti-Christ that a church calling itself by the name of
Christ would return to the very veil Christ had done away with.
But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve
through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the
simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth
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another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive

another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel,
which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming
themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan
himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no
great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers
of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. 2
Cor 11:3-4,13-15 KJV

This is not a new revelation in the Scripture. The Early Church had
been warned that deceivers like the prophets of the Mormon Church
would be coming after them
Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there;
believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false
prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch
that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Matt
24:23-24 KJV
And then if any man shall say to you, Lo, here is Christ; or, lo, he
is there; believe him not: For false Christs and false prophets
shall rise, and shall shew signs and wonders, to seduce, if it were
possible, even the elect. Mark 13:21-22 KJV
To make matters worse, the Mormon prophets say that God is a man,
born on another planet, whose works earned him godhood. That is the
god who stands on the other side of the Mormon veil.
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Because that, when they knew God, they glorified Him not as
God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their
imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing
themselves to be wise, they became fools,
And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image
made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed
beasts, and creeping things.
Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the
lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between
themselves:
Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and
served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for
ever. Amen. Rom 1:21-25 KJV
The promise is given that if the Mormon is judged worthy
enough, he/she can attain godhood, but only if he/she goes through
the temple ritual and is able to cross behind the veil,
To even get to the temple veil, the Mormon must stand before a
counterfeit priesthood [see footnote 1.] to be judged worthy enough to
stand before the veil they have placed between the member and God.
This worthiness is judged every year. A major part of this judgment is
determined at the annual tithing settlement. Not up-to-date on
tithing? No Temple recommend. Every Mormon must earn the right to
go to the temple and step through the veil by his/her own works. All

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Male Temple applicants must be members of the Melchizedek

priesthood.
When the worthy Mormon stands before the veil in the temple, there is
a temple worker standing on the opposite side of the veil, portraying
the Lord. Now, the member must demonstrate through slits in the veil,
that he/she knows all the secret handgrips, code words and be able to
demonstrate the 5 points of fellowship through the veil.

I commented a long time ago that Satan was not going to come after
you looking like a 14 foot frog, but as something sweet and lovely,
even as an angel of light. Not surprisingly, that is how Joseph Smith
described the heavenly beings in his first vision story, angels of light.
Mormonism may appear to be Christian, but it brings a system of
beliefs and rituals incompatible with Christianity and without any
redemptive value to the believer.
This denial of Christs shed blood on Calvary is the reason there are no
crosses in or on any Mormon building or temple and why they use
water in their counterfeit communion. They go so far away from
Biblical truth as to say it was in the Garden of Gethsemane where the
atonement of Christ took place, not the cross.

"It was in Gethsemane that Jesus took on Himself the sins of the
world, in Gethsemane that His pain was equivalent to the
cumulative burden of all men, in Gethsemane that He descended
below all things so that all could repent and come to Him" (Ezra
Taft Benson, Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p.15).

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"Forgiveness is available because Christ the Lord sweat great

drops of blood in Gethsemane as he bore the incalculable weight
of the sins of all who ever had or ever would repent" (Bruce R.
McConkie, The Promised Messiah, p. 337).
In conclusion, the Mormon ritual that brings the adherent to stand in
front of a supposed holy veil that separates them from the presence of
God is to deny Christ and Calvary. In truth, it Biblically places them
fully in the position of an antiChrist.
They cannot be Christians and perform acts of worship that deny the
very reason for Christs presence among men. A thing
cannot be and not be at the same time. One is truth, the other a lie.
The Christ of the Cross
is truth.
The Christ of

the Mormon veil

is a lie.

There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of
death.
Proverbs 14:12

For the leaders of this people cause them to err;

and they that are led of them are destroyed. Isaiah 9:16

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You can reach Ed Decker

Saints Alive in Jesus

P.O. Box 1347, Issaquah, WA 98027
ed@saintsalive.com
www.saintsalive.com

Visit Eds Amazon Bookstore

http://www.amazon.com/EdDecker/e/B000APUH2Q/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

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